Intellectual Property

Starbucks is at it again. Last week it filed an intellectual property rights lawsuit against the owner of a Thai street vendor and called for his arrest. This is one year after Damrong Maslae ignored the company’s cease-and-desist letter to stop using their Bangkok coffee stall’s “Starbung Coffee” logo, on the basis of trademark...

Intellectual property is a terrible thing to waste. Gucci is one of the many big brands to keep their lawyers in sports cars and lobster cocktails. Here is a sampling from the past few years of IP litigation. 2012/ Last week Gucci went to court today to settle a dispute over Guess’s alleged infringement...

“In a letter sent to Wikipedia’s San Francisco office, the FBI said that ‘unauthorised reproduction of the FBI Seal was prohibited by US law,’ the BBC reported today. “‘Whoever possesses any insignia … or any colourable imitation thereof … shall be fined … or imprisoned … or both.'” Them’s fighting words. But why? The...